


He Wanted a Bagel

by VolkswagenPanda



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Asdfghjkl, Book 8.5: Unlocked, Character Death, Dark, Death, F/M, Fights, Forbidden Cities, Funny, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sad, Spoilers, Telepathy, The Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities), Unlocked Spoilers, bagel - Freeform, light leaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolkswagenPanda/pseuds/VolkswagenPanda
Summary: All Keefe Sencen wanted was a bagel. Alas, Sophie Foster couldn't let him get one without interfering. This is a post-Unlocked fic that follows Keefe several years after the end of the short story, and it gets a *little* dark, so you've been warned.
Relationships: Sophie Foster/Keefe Sencen
Comments: 15
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

"Hi...I'd like an everything bagel with grape jelly and cream cheese."

"Is that all?" The employee looked up with what Keefe knew was fatigue after a long day.

"Yeah, thanks."

"That'll be $3.05."

Keefe nodded and fished the cash out of his backpack. He was halfway to handing the money to the employee when--

_Keefe!_

He jumped, dropping all the change on the floor and nearly doing the same to his backpack. It was another one of Sophie's mental attacks. These had slowed down some in the past few months after he had left for the Forbidden Cities, and he didn't expect to get one now. He picked up the money.

"Sorry," he said, trying not to accidentally respond to Sophie. The employee didn't respond.

_Keefe, it's not going so great right now._

The employee handed him his receipt. He murmured a thank you and stepped to the side, waiting to pick up his bagel.

_If you ever were going to come back, now would be a great time._

He pointedly didn't think about anything.

_I know you're still alive. Look, we really, really need you..._

Keefe stared at the ceiling. He had gotten very good at ignoring Sophie.

_I'm not kidding! Listen, I don't think all of us are going to survive this._

He froze.

 _We're really swamped right now. I..._ she cut off. _Come on! Last time I checked, Fitz was literally fighting three Neverseen at once._

Keefe pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes it was so difficult to stay out of the Lost Cities, but he had to do it.

 _Keefe! For real!_ If you could convey any emotion over mental conversations, Sophie was doing it. _I'm out of time. Help me!_

Keefe stood, emotions confused and running together, when a call interrupted him for the second time in the last five minutes.

"Order for John?"


	2. Chapter 2

Keefe didn't remember that "John" was his fake name until the employee said it two more times. He shook his head out of its trance and turned around a few times.

When he located the door, he pushed through a dozen people and nearly fell into the street. Keefe stumbled backwards again and tried to locate where his apartment would be through the sea of pedestrians. _Left._ It was left. 

He ran top speed--which was incredibly fast-- and got to the apartment building out of breath and panicking. The bagel was long forgotten. He felt like screaming when he entered the code no less than four times and the door _still_ wouldn't open. 5, 3, 6, 6, 2, 1. He took a deep breath and slowed his hand down so as to not jam the keys. 5, 3, 6, 6, 2, 1. The red light turned on. Keefe was close to tearing his hair out. Time to literally count a full second between each button punch. 5. 3. 6. 6. 2. 1. The door clicked, and Keefe nearly ripped the thing off its hinges. 

No time for the elevator. He took the steps three at a time and probably broke his doorknob when he unlocked it, he used the key so forcefully. When he finally got into his actual apartment, he just left the door hanging open and ran to the tiny closet with the high shelf. _There_ was the leaping crystal he had never gotten rid of. He was never planning to go back to the Lost Cities, but he was infinitely glad he hadn't smashed this one. 

Now, how to use it?

It would probably work if he went outside, right? Right? Well, whether or not it would actually work, it was his best bet. Better to try and fail than to never have tried at all?

And so, Keefe ran all the way down the stairs again, slamming the door behind him, but not checking to see if it actually closed or just bounced against the doorframe and swung open again. He had a mission.

Once out in the street, he stared at the sky. It was a clear, sunny day. _If I'm ever going to get something right, please let it be this._ He didn't know who he was talking to. God, Allah, the alicorns that lived in the sky, whatever. Anything would help. Keefe held the leaping crystal up. 

He closed his eyes and went absolutely still. Concentrating on the mental picture Sophie had sent him, he reached out with his mind and tried to recall the feeling of light leaping. 

A woman holding coffee nearly had a heart attack when she witnessed him disappear.


	3. Chapter 3

The Neverseen were in that state of mind that only comes when you are beating your enemy to an extent that you know the likelihood you will lose is infinitesimal. It was them against a few teenagers with, admittedly, significant powers, and a couple fighters of other species. There was no way they could be defeated, not after they drugged the entire council and most of the adults living in the Lost Cities. 

But then some reinforcements arrived. First, some more teenagers (students of Foxfire?) came in to help, and then a veritable battalion of dwarves showed up...in the mess, most of the Neverseen didn't notice a solitary blond boy appear in a corner of the cave. But one of them did. 

And she was angry.

~~~

Sophie wasn't sure they were going to make it, but she wouldn't diminish her hope just yet. Some of her classmates and some of the ones from classes above her who had already graduated showed up when they heard what was going on. 

She wasn't sure on their losses yet, but she knew they existed. 

Some dwarves showed up, which she was infinitely grateful for. They were a force to be reckoned with when they were angry. And from what she could tell, they were _furious_.

Now, all she needed was a certain runaway to complete their army. 

~~~

Keefe honestly didn't think he was going to light leap into the cave safely. It was all very fuzzy, and although he remembered perfectly how to light leap (photographic memory), he had never really been taught how it worked. So it was insane that he was alive, and whole, and not about to pass out.

Now, time to show those Neverseen assholes how using new powers was DONE. Spoiler: they were all going to die.

But first, he had to deal with his mom.

~~~

It was a long and bloody battle, but luckily Elwin was there to provide some quick healing for the fighters. Despite his best efforts, not everyone could be helped at once and nobody was really certain what the total damage was. 

A passerby might've noticed the big things, like when Tam showed up after being gone nearly as long as Keefe and he worked with his sister to overwhelm dozens of the enemy, or when Keefe himself showed up and used his new power, unknown to anyone else there, to take the Neverseen by surprise and overwhelm them as well.

And anyone would have noticed when the Neverseen retreated.


	4. Chapter 4

The Neverseen were defeated. Linh was tending to the injured, Dex was working on how to get back those were drugged despite his own problems, and Marella was one of the brave souls clearing away the dead. Keefe and Sophie were recovering. Biana was mourning.

Fitz, Wylie, and Stina were among those who didn’t make it.

All had been taxed that day, and it wasn’t a pretty scene. Now they had to work on rebuilding after it was over.

~~~~~

It wasn’t until the next day that Keefe and Sophie spoke to each other.

 _Thank you_. Sophie sent the mental message to Keefe.

 _Are you okay?_ Typical Keefe, caring about her instead of taking credit for his accomplishments.

_No. You?_

_Somehow, I thought this would be happier._

_Beating the Neverseen?_

_Coming back._

Sophie felt vindicated. _So you_ were _planning to come back!_

_It…was in the back of my mind._

Strangely, this was a safe topic for them. Something that wouldn’t cause either to break down. _So, now that you’re back, are you staying?_

There was a long pause. _I think I owe it to everyone. Especially Fitz._ Aaand there went the safe topic.

_I just can’t believe he’s gone._

_Me neither. He was my best friend, I guess I thought he would be immortal._

Sophie didn’t say the unspoken: _without this war, he might’ve been._ She let the silence take over again. It was Keefe who broke it.

_Where are you, Foster?_

_With Silveny. Want to join us?_

_I’ll see you soon._

Keefe light-leapt to Everglen (or wherever the alicorns live) and joined Sophie on the grass.

“Why did you want to talk in person?” Keefe didn’t question her impossible knowledge of why he had asked where she was seconds before. He didn’t doubt the Mysterious Ms. F.

“I wanted to apologize.” Sophie peeked up from where she had had her face buried in Silveny’s mane. “I thought it would be jerky to do it over mental message.” Keefe glanced at the sky, then at Sophie, then back at the sky. “I’m really, really sorry. I put you through so much, through the unimaginable. And then I didn’t return…even after I mastered my ability. I can’t believe I stayed in the Forbidden Cities just because of my ego. It was horrible to hurt you for the sake of my pride. To hurt everyone.” He made eye contact with her, and although she wasn’t the empath in the room, she knew he was sorry.

“Apology accepted, Keefe…” Sophie grinned suddenly. “Under one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You promise not to be such an idiot and to never do it again.”

Keefe smiled back. “Done. I promise.”

And so, the pair sat next to each other in what was arguably the most beautiful place on earth with the hesitant, almost smiling-through-tears smiles that came with war and losing a loved one. It wasn’t perfect. Nothing would be perfect for a long time.

But they were starting to feel the threads of hope and happiness again, and that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry...


End file.
